Gerrymander clash

December 9, 2017Letters to the Editor

In November I volunteered to share a petition in Butler County for legislation to end gerrymandering. The polling place I covered was for a district in which I was comfortable.

When state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe showed up later to challenge my right to be at that polling place asking for those signatures, he made the claim that 28 people had been arrested for being “paid poll workers” from “outside the state.”

He claimed that once representatives are given the right to “handle our affairs,” changing the districts to keep themselves in office is included in the mandate; that only liberal Democrats thought differently. I replied that a large percentage of his constituents at this polling place had signed my petition.

My goal in this effort is to help bring back to the people the power to choose their legislators.